Giving utility with every business card

Even in the digital age of social media and virtual business collateral, the physical business card stands as the one device that serves as a resume of contact information and business directive.

Bringing attention to the standard 3.5 x 2 inch business card and making it standout has transcended the obvious to the sublime. In all cases, businesses ask two questions:

How do you get the customer to hold onto your business card and reference it when they need your service?

How can you make the business card something that is both convenient to carry and offers value.

Beyond a catchy design which lasts only a few minutes before it’s forgotten, here’s an example that we printed for one of our customers that has proven success and retention.

Beta Projects uses a unique matrix of upper and lower case letters and numbers printed on the back of their card to act as a password generator. Each card is printed with a unique random matrix and the user is required to imagine a shape and trace it on the matrix to generate a password. Typically the shape should include eight or more characters to be considered secure. As the user moves their shape to different positions on the matrix, a new password would be created.

Users have mentioned that this is an indispensable tool, and their only concern is losing the card – which could not be replaced with the same matrix. In that event, passwords would have to be recovered or changed.

Below, is an example using a highlighted triangle to demonstrate the technique. In this case the starting letter of the password is a reminder for which service the password is for. G is for Google, L for linked-in, and f for Facebook.

This simple device has added utility to the card and the contact information for computer service is never far away.